Phase-field modeling of pitting and mechanically-assisted corrosion of Mg alloys for biomedical applications
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Published version
Author(s)
Kovacevic, Sasa
Ali, Wahaaj
Martínez-Pañeda, Emilio
LLorca, Javier
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
A phase-field model is developed to simulate the corrosion of Mg alloys in body fluids. The model incorporates both Mg dissolution and the transport of Mg ions in solution, naturally predicting the transition from activation-controlled to diffusion-controlled bio-corrosion. In addition to uniform corrosion, the presented framework captures pitting corrosion and accounts for the synergistic effect of aggressive environments and mechanical loading in accelerating corrosion kinetics. The model applies to arbitrary 2D and 3D geometries with no special treatment for the evolution of the corrosion front, which is described using a diffuse interface approach. Experiments are conducted to validate the model and a good agreement is attained against in vitro measurements on Mg wires. The potential of the model to capture mechano-chemical effects during corrosion is demonstrated in case studies considering Mg wires in tension and bioabsorbable coronary Mg stents subjected to mechanical loading. The proposed methodology can be used to assess the in vitro and in vivo service life of Mg-based biomedical devices and optimize the design taking into account the effect of mechanical deformation on the corrosion rate. The model has the potential to advocate further development of Mg alloys as a biodegradable implant material for biomedical applications. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A physically-based model is developed to simulate the corrosion of bioabsorbable metals in environments that resemble biological fluids. The model captures pitting corrosion and incorporates the role of mechanical fields in enhancing the corrosion of bioabsorbable metals. Model predictions are validated against dedicated in vitro corrosion experiments on Mg wires. The potential of the model to capture mechano-chemical effects is demonstrated in representative examples. The simulations show that the presence of mechanical fields leads to the formation of cracks accelerating the failure of Mg wires, whereas pitting severely compromises the structural integrity of coronary Mg stents. This work extends phase-field modeling to bioengineering and provides a mechanistic tool for assessing the service life of bioabsorbable metallic biomedical devices.
Date Issued
2023-07-01
Date Acceptance
2022-12-24
Citation
Acta Biomaterialia, 2023, 164, pp.641-658
ISSN
1742-7061
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
641
End Page
658
Journal / Book Title
Acta Biomaterialia
Volume
164
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Identifier
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.04762.pdf
PII: S1742-7061(23)00206-4
Grant Number
MR/V024124/1
Subjects
Absorbable Implants
Alloys
Corrosion
Dental Materials
Materials Testing
Metals
Stents
Bioabsorbable Mg stent
Diffuse interface
Localized corrosion
Mg biodegradation
Stress-assisted corrosion
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2023-04-15